Re-Vamp of Tidy Towns Competition

Sligo County Council in association with the Tidy Towns Unit of the Department of the Environment and Local Government hosted a half day information seminar in late February 2006 to provide practical advice to those directly or indirectly involved in the enhancement of towns and villages e.g. Tidy Towns groups, local community groups or local development organisations.
 
In his welcoming address the Cathaoirleach, Cllr Patsy Barry said that he viewed this seminar as a forum for offering tangible advice and support to groups and added that it also allowed groups to engage in networking and sharing of ideas and opinions.

Guest Speakers at the event included Mr David McLoughlin, Urban and Village Unit who gave an overview of the Tidy Towns Competition and provided some practical tips for any group entering the National competition. Mr Paul Cusack, National Adjudicator then gave an informative presentation advising groups on the benefit of developing key action plans and programme of activities. He also explained the National key assessment criteria and provided some photographic examples of best practice in these areas. The next groups of speakers represented Keadue Tidy Towns Committee, Mr Padraig Noone and Mr Peter McNiff gave an impressive account of the transformation of Keadue from its humble beginnings in the 1970’s to its achievement of the accolade of National Award winners in the Tidy Towns Competition and International Winners in the Entente Florale competition. They highlighted the need for full community participation and support for any tidy towns effort and were a great inspiration for the groups in attendance.

Finally Ms Sharon Eastwood, Heritage Officer outlined the various funding sources available to groups from local authorities and other funding agencies; in particular the funding available for the conservation of wildlife and natural amenities. Acting Director of Services, Ms Maura Hegarty launched the re-vamped local Tidy Towns competition with different prize categories to entice new entrants to the competition which included: Best Kept Housing Estate, Best Kept School, Best Community Managed Bring Bank along with County Awards for different population categories.

All the Tidy Towns groups were represented at the event along with other interested groups/individuals. This year the Office of Community and Enterprise are spearheading a new drive to promote greater community involvement in the Tidy Towns competition.  Judging for this local county competition will take place in May/June 2006.